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10 Things NOT To Do During Hungry Ghost Month

The Hungry Ghost Festival is back! The Chinese believes that during this entire 7th lunar month, the gates of hell are opened to allow the hungry ghosts to roam the earth. Whether you believe in it or not, that is really up to you.

But it's better to be safe than sorry, don't you think? So here are 10 things you should not do during this ghostly month.

1. Tell ghost stories
When two or more people group together to talk about ghost stories in the middle of the night, they will tend to attract unwanted attention from wandering spirits and ghosts! The Chinese has a saying "Don't talk about ghosts at night and don't talk about humans in the day".

2. Whistle in the night
If you are one who love to whistle, do it in the daytime. Whistling at night seems to attract ghosts! If you can't resist your favourite tune, try humming or singing instead.



3. Cut your finger nails at night
If you cut your finger nails after dark, you run the risk of seeing a ghost! I am not sure about cutting your toe nails, however.

4. Swim in the lake or sea
It is a general belief that swimmers will have a higher chance of getting drowned during the month of the Hungry Ghost. This is because ghosts like to stay in the water due to its "yin" environment and they will likely drag you down into the water.

5. Hang your clothes out at night
Wandering ghosts may get attached to your clothes - you surely will not want to be wearing them!
Or perhaps, this is just an advice to prevent us from scaring ourselves silly? You know, your clothes might just look like flying ghosts on a windy night!


Image courtesy of Of Memoirs And Musings

6. Touch the offerings meant for hungry ghosts
The food and burnings you see at the road side are offerings for the hungry ghosts. Do not mess or touch the offerings or even step on them. You might offend the ghosts and they may disturb you or follow you back home!

7. Wear red or black colour clothes
Not sure the reason why but ghosts seem to dig dark-coloured clothes especially red and black! Wear something bright like white or yellow instead.

8. Going out late at night
Since hungry ghosts are roaming the streets during this month, it is fair to say that your chances of bumping into them are much higher. Try to stay home more often during this entire month or at least be back before midnight. And if you are a pregnant woman, avoid going out at all costs since ghosts are attracted to foetuses.


Image courtesy of Dangerous Intersection

9. Walk in the dark and near the walls
If you really have no choice but to go out at night, it is advisable to walk at brightly lit areas and where there are crowds. Ghosts like to walk (or fly?) along walls and stay around dark corners, so avoid walking close to the walls!

10. Answer when someone calls your name
If you hear someone calls your name at night, do not by any chance turn around and look, or worse, answer that call! If you do, the ghost may just reveal itself to you!

Superstitions? Myths? Nonsense? Maybe.

Some of you may have probably done one or more of the 10 things above and nothing happened to you, right? Well, you may not be so lucky this time around. It all depends whether your spirit essence is strong or weak. Haha!

Oh, by the way, if you feel someone tapping your shoulder while reading this post, DO NOT turn around to look!

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My Visit To Thean Hou Temple

Having blogged about ancient temple ruins in Cambodia for the past few weeks, I guess it's time to take a short break before you, my readers suffer from temple fatigue.

Unfortunately, I was not able to run away from the subject of temples. I found myself looking at the photos of temples again in my laptop albeit a different kind of temple. This time, it is the famous Chinese temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - the Thean Hou Temple (天后宫)



I have been to this temple only once when I was small so I could hardly remember how it looked like. I had this impression that it was quite grand! My chance to visit it again came last year when my brother went there for his registration of marriage (ROM).



Located atop Robson Heights along Lorong Bellamy overlooking Jalan Syed Putra, Thean Hou Temple was built in 1981, completed in 1987 and officially opened in 1989.

It is a 6-tiered temple built by the Hainanese community in Kuala Lumpur at the cost of RM7 million and is dedicated to the Goddess Tian Hou (The Heavenly Mother).

At the entrance to the temple, you can see this beautiful gazebo in Chinese-style architecture.



Near the gazebo is the statue of Goddess Guan Yin with a mini waterfall next to her.



There is also a garden with all the twelve Chinese animal zodiac, but I did not take photos of all of them except for the Dragon ...



The Rat ....



And the Tiger. This tiger sure looks fierce!



Can you see the Horse and the Sheep in the background?

Thean Hou Temple offers fortune telling and also marriage registration services as can be seen from this signboard.



I took photos of my brother and his wife and our families but I am afraid I won't be sharing them here. This post is more about Thean Hou Temple than about my brother's registration of marriage!

Look! There's even an ancient bride's carriage outside the ROM office!



After my brother had registered his marriage, we went for a short tour of the temple. The ROM office is located at the ground floor but to reach the temple, we had to climb up a few flight of stairs.

What greeted us were lanterns, lanterns and more lanterns!



I just snapped away with my camera!



Big red lanterns and smaller yellow ones were hung all over the temple compound. I am pretty sure it would be a sight to behold if all these lanterns are lighted up at night!



There were a few tourists there that day but most of the people were locals and they were there to do their prayers. Luckily it was not crowded as I simply dislike crowds!



I love the beautiful artistic roof of the temple which was decorated with statues of dragons and phoenixes and probably other celestial creatures!



I also like the pagoda-like tower, which was also decorated with lanterns!



See the key hole shaped door? Love that!



It was not as grand as I expected - oh well, probably it looked grand to me when I was a child. The Kek Lok Si Temple in Penang is definitely grander.



This is the incense or joss sticks burner in front of the temple. Sort or reminded me of those joss sticks burners I saw in the Jian Shan Temple in Yangshuo, China.



We stepped into the temple but we were not there to pray.



I am not sure if it's all right to take photos of people inside the temple especially if they are posing in front of the deities, but I just had to take the photo of this man taking a photo!



The prayer hall houses 3 altars - each for one deity or goddess. I am not sure if I got this right (please correct me if I am wrong, thank you!) but I think the altar on the left is dedicated to Shui Wei Sheng Niang (The Goddess of the Waterfront)



The altar in the middle belongs to Goddess Tian Hou (The Heavenly Mother)



And the altar on the right is dedicated to Guan Yin (The Goddess of Mercy)



The wall surrounding the temple is also decorated with tiles of these deities.



Frankly, I was quite impressed with the artistic carvings on the ceilings. Beautiful!



If you have not visited the Thean Hou Temple before, do give it a visit! Even though it is not as grand as the Kek Lok Si Temple in Penang, the ornate carvings and intricate embellishments make this temple a worthwhile visit!

FIRST COMMENTER

Walking The Terrace Of The Elephants

After the rather disappointing tour of Baphuon (as it was still under restoration works), Jam, his friend and I proceeded to our next destination - The Terrace Of The Elephants.

As it is located just next to Baphuon in the city of Angkor Thom, we just walked over. Can you see how near is Terrace Of The Elephants from Baphuon in the map below?



So why was it named Terrace Of The Elephants? Well, that's because there were intricate carvings of elephants on the terrace wall!



Built in the late 12th century by King Jayavarman VII in the Bayon architectural style, the Terrace was used by the King as a platform from which to view his victorious returning army. It was also said to be used as a viewing stand for public ceremonies as well as served as a base for the king's grand audience hall.



The terrace wall is approximately 2.5 metres tall and 350 metres long. It is attached to the Phimeanakas Temple of which only a few ruins remain.



Besides elephants, the terrace wall was also carved with nagas (7-headed serpent), demons and garudas. Garuda is a large mythical bird that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.


garuda carving

Walking along the terrace platform with naga railings, I spotted many more carvings.



Like this one below.



There were stairs leading up to a higher platform.



We soon reached the entrance to the Phimeanakas Temple.



As the Phimeanakas was not part of our itinerary, we did not venture inside. I just took some photos of the gate.



There were some intricate carvings on the structure.



We left the Phimeanakas gate and continued to walk on the terrace platform. Then I saw what looked like a lotus flower made of rocks!



I wanted to climb higher but there's a warning sign with the words "No Climbing".



Oh! What are these? Would you like to take a guess?



Actually they are the top parts of the elephants' heads! Haha! Can you see them in the photo below together with that lotus flower in the middle?



At the side of the terrace, there were many more intricate carvings.



Can you see the image of an elephant and its mahout here?



I was quite amazed at the carvings on the front terrace wall!





There were stairs leading down and we decided to descend those steps.



At the bottom, I could see this five-headed horse. And I thought they only have seven-headed serpent!



Picture of the five-headed horse from the side.



There were also carvings of what looked like dancers.





I came upon a very narrow passageway and felt a little claustrophobic so I decided not to stay too long there!



Then from where I stood, I saw a silhouette of Simba, the Lion King!



Of course it was no Simba. Haha! Climbing up the stairs and back at the top, I realized it was a life size lion statue.



It's best to visit Terrace Of The Elephants before noon as the wall faces east, hence you get the best lighting for photography.

Next to the Terrace Of The Elephants is the Terrace Of The Leper King. It was not in our itinerary but since it was nearby, we just walked over and took some photos. The terrace wall also displayed a lot of intricate carvings.



There is supposed to be a statue of the Leper King at the top of the terrace but we did not have the time to climb up, so I did not take any photos of it.



It was late in the morning by the time we left Terrace Of The Elephants and Terrace Of The Leper King. That was the last time I stepped my foot in Angkor Thom.

Coming Up Next : The Children Of Preah Khan

FIRST COMMENTER